Yamashiro was the second of two Fusō-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1915 and commissioned in 1917, she initially patrolled off the coast of China, playing no part in World War I. She was modernized between 1930 and 1935, with improvements to her armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. With only 14-inch guns, she was outclassed by other Japanese battleships at the beginning of World War II, and played auxiliary roles for most of the war. By 1944 she was forced into front-line duty, serving as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Shōji Nishimura’s Southern Force at the Battle of
About Japanese battleship Yamashiro in brief
Yamashiro was the second of two Fusō-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1915 and commissioned in 1917, she initially patrolled off the coast of China, playing no part in World War I. She was modernized between 1930 and 1935, with improvements to her armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. With only 14-inch guns, she was outclassed by other Japanese battleships at the beginning of World War II, and played auxiliary roles for most of the war. By 1944 she was forced into front-line duty, serving as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Shōji Nishimura’s Southern Force at the Battle of Surigao Strait. In the early hours of 25 October against a superior American force, Yamashiro sunk by torpedoes and naval gunfire, and only 10 crewmembers survived. The ship had a length of 192. 1 meters between perpendiculars and 202. 7 meters overall. She had a beam of 28.7 meters and a draft of 8. 7 meter. Yamash Hiro displaced 29,326 long tons at standard load and 35,900 long tons at full load. The main guns were modernized during the ship’s 1930 reconstruction, increasing their range from 25,420 to 32,420 metres. Initially, the guns could fire at a rate of 1,420 rounds per minute, but this was also improved during her first modernization. She later fitted with a secondary armament of 16-caliber 6-caliber guns mounted in casemates on the hull.
Each gun could fire a high-explosive projectile up to a maximum of 22,970 yards at up to six shots per minute. Originally, the ship was fitted with six high-angle 40-caliber AA guns in single mounts on both sides of the superstructure on the forward side of the hull, with a maximum range of up to 6,000 yards. Her aft superstructure was enlarged to accommodate mounts for 127-millimeter anti-aircraft guns and additional fire-control directors. In addition, her stern was lengthened by 7. 62 meters. These changes increased her overall length to 212. 75 m, her beam to 33. 1 m and her draft to 9. 69 meters. Her displacement increased nearly 4,000 long tons to 39,154 longtons at deep load. She exceeded her designed speed of 22. 5 knots during her sea trials, reaching 23. 3 knots at 47,730 shp. During her modernization, the Miyahara boilers were replaced by six new Kanpon oil-fired boilers fitted in the former aft boiler room, and the forward funnel was removed. The fuel storage of the ship gave her a range of 11,800 nautical miles at a speed of 16 knots. The twelve 45-calibre 14- inch guns of YamashIRO were mounted in six twin-gun turrets, numbered one through six from front to rear, each with an elevation range of −5 to +30 degrees.
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